Mick Dumke
Bio:
I’ve been writing for the Reader since 2005, mostly reporting in-depth stories on political issues such as the notorious parking meter deal, gun control, budgeting tricks, government transparency, race and poverty, and drug policies. I collaborate frequently with my friend and colleague Ben Joravsky, which usually works well because he’s funnier and I’m wonkier. Previously I did stints as a staffer for the Chicago News Cooperative, the Chicago Reporter, and newspapers in Michigan and Virginia, and along the way my work has appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune Magazine, and other publications you’ve never heard of. I’ve been known to teach journalism at Northwestern University and Columbia College Chicago.
I’ve been writing for the Reader since 2005, mostly reporting in-depth stories on political issues such as the notorious parking meter deal, gun control, budgeting tricks, government transparency, race and poverty, and drug policies. I collaborate frequently with my friend and colleague Ben Joravsky, which usually works well because he’s funnier and I’m wonkier. Previously I did stints as a staffer for the Chicago News Cooperative, the Chicago Reporter, and newspapers in Michigan and Virginia, and along the way my work has appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune Magazine, and other publications you’ve never heard of. I’ve been known to teach journalism at Northwestern University and Columbia College Chicago.
- News & Features, Our Town, Feb 26, 2009
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Technology for Transparency
Can Miguel del Valle bring the city clerk's office into the computer age?
- News & Features, Our Town, Jul 3, 2008
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The Rusty Lamppost Theory
Alderman Bob Fioretti takes on the Second Ward's problems one streetlight, one mailbox, and one pile of dog poop at a time.
- News & Features, Our Town, Jun 5, 2008
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Green and Long Green
Daley's environmental commissioner on making business as usual eco-friendly
- News & Features, Our Town, Jun 21, 2007
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Council Follies: When Activists Attack
Animal-rights groups peck away at the City Council as it considers two different ordinances to repeal the foie gras ban.
- News & Features, Our Town, May 24, 2007
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Council Follies: Freshman Orientation
The new aldermen get their bearings while the veterans conduct business as usual.
- News & Features, Our Town, Feb 22, 2007
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Elections: Aldermania!
The 15th Ward's unpredictable race; getting down to business in the 49th; big labor, big wallet.
- News & Features, Our Town, Feb 15, 2007
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Elections: Aldermania!
Burt Natarus and a rogue videotaper; the Anybody but Stone campaign; a Chinese restaurant caught in Colon-Colom crossfire
- News & Features, Our Town, Feb 8, 2007
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Elections/Aldermania!
This week: selective memory in the 46th Ward, a vacant lot in the 9th, and fear in the 14th
- News & Features, Our Town, Feb 1, 2007
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Elections: Aldermania!
This week: a sign skirmish in the 3rd Ward, a marriage of convenience in the 2nd, and a MySpace campaign in the 12th.
- News & Features, Our Town, Jan 25, 2007
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Elections: The Men Behind the Curtain
Most voters have never heard their names, but these two well-connected guys decide who's allowed to run for office in Chicago.
- News & Features, Our Town, Jan 4, 2007
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Council Follies/ Don't Need No Stinking Quorum, Part II
Under the City Council's rules you can meet without a quorum as long as no one at the meeting calls for one.
- News & Features, Our Town, Dec 14, 2006
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Council Follies: Committee of One
Berny Stone don't need no stinking quorum.
- News & Features, Our Town, Nov 16, 2006
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Council Follies/The Machine Still Works
And our aldermen couldn't be happier about that.
- News & Features, Our Town, Nov 9, 2006
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Elections: Running With a Pack
If Jesse Jackson Jr. is going to run for mayor, he's not going to do it alone.
- News & Features, Our Town, Oct 12, 2006
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He's Not the Mayor They Married
Daley's victory on the big-box ordinance hasn't quelled the City Council's newfound discontent.
- News & Features, Our Town, Aug 3, 2006
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Who's the Boss?
The big-box minimum-wage debate caused a rift in the council that could spur the birth of a new independent movement.
- News & Features, Our Town, Jul 6, 2006
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Business as Usual
The day word got out about Todd Stroger, aldermen fondly remembered a patronage king and defended their own nepotism.
- News & Features, Our Town, May 25, 2006
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The Master Debaters
A committee hearing on two proposed living-wage ordinances turns into a pissing match.
- News & Features, Our Town, Mar 30, 2006
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A High-Horsepower Spiritual Quest
A friend remembers the only Medill grad he knew who could go zero to 100 in under three seconds.
- News & Features, Our Town, Jan 5, 2006
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A Million Here, a Million There . . .
The City Council's cut of the 2006 budget.
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